This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0092337, filed on Nov. 12, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to using map data, and more particularly, to updating map data in a device employing the map data or a navigation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A device employing map data or a navigation system stores map data when the device or navigation system is manufactured. The device may be a portable phone, a portable device, such as a notebook computer, or a desktop computer. However, map data changes over time. Thus, a device manufacturer or a navigation system manufacturer periodically provides the map data online or offline, or provides the map data online or offline whenever the map data of a specific area changes. A user then updates the map data stored in the device or the navigation system based on the map data provided by the manufacturer.
However, the manufacturer must collect updated map data from a variety of sources, such as from satellite imagery, traffic cameras and correspondents, etc. The manufacturer then processes the collected map data into a format suitable for the device or the navigation system, stores the processed map data in a physical storage medium, such as a compact disk (CD) or a hard disk drive (HDD), and provides the stored map data offline or online, for example, using a wireless Internet connection.
The user updates the map data stored in the device or the navigation system by using the processed map data stored in the physical storage medium, for example, by connecting to a server of the manufacturer via a wireless Internet connection and downloading the processed map data.
Since it is necessary to update the map data stored in the device or the navigation system, the user cannot obtain updated map data in real time and must pay a separate communication fee or a data usage fee in order to download the updated map data.
In the case of an onboard navigation system in an automobile, the user should stop driving the automobile in order to update the map data of the navigation system. Additionally, the user cannot use the device or the navigation system during the updating process. For example, a user cannot update the map data stored in a portable phone while using the portable phone, but instead must wait until after hanging up the phone to update the map data.